The Other Doctor
by daggerings
Summary: This wasn't the Doctor who had saved her from an alien attack at work; the one who she had saved by risking a look into the time vortex; the one who had brought her in a parallel universe to live a life without him, knowing that there was little to no chance of seeing her again. This wasn't the Doctor she loved. Set after 4x13 "Journey's End".


**_(A/N: Bear with me. This is my first Doctor Who fanfiction, and I've never actually read any DW fanfiction besides, well, this piece of mine. Hope you like it!)_**

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_It's been a day since everything went right. Or wrong. Sometimes Rose wasn't exactly sure._

Yesterday, she had been so happy to hear him whisper the words "I love you". It was as if she had been waiting for centuries to know if he felt the same way.

Yesterday, everything seemed to fall right into place. The continuation of Rose and the Doctor, living their lives, fighting battles, and growing old together. Their story.

Sometimes she wondered if it was really him. He had the same face, and the same body. The messy, brown hair. The long and slender figure. The tired look in his eyes.

They lived together now, a decision she made hours before. Months ago, the fortune of the Tylers allowed Rose to buy her own house. Now it was her and the Doctor's house. She knew the Doctor wouldn't object to living in a house that her family paid for. He didn't have a penny on him anyway.

She hadn't really talked to this Doctor since they arrived at Bad Wolf Bay the day before. They had kissed and hugged and held hands, and she realized that all of that had happened because she was content with the mere idea of having the Doctor with her in this parallel universe.

Rose had felt that the situation was a bit odd minutes after hearing the whirring sounds of the TARDIS as it left for good. She was holding the hands of a stranger, someone she had not come in contact with until that very day. This wasn't the Doctor who had saved her from an alien attack at work; the one who she had saved by risking a look into the time vortex; the one who had brought her in a parallel universe to live a life without him, knowing that there was little to no chance of seeing her again.

This wasn't the Doctor she loved.

This Doctor slept in her bed the night before, no words spoken between the two. Rose simply stared at him, into those old, tired eyes. She brushed her thumb against his hand, trying to find any distinction between the real Doctor and this one. They felt the same, all right. She gently pressed her fingers against the side of his face, and moved them along his arm.

She lay on her side, facing him, then slowly placed her hand on the left side of his chest. She felt the thumping of his heart increasing. She closed her eyes and moved her hand to the right, aware that she wouldn't sense anything because this doctor only had a single heart. Somehow, she still hoped. Her palm lay against his skin. Nothing.

Rose had hoped that he didn't see the teardrop that fell from her eye. She hadn't noticed that his eyes were always on hers, since they entered the room, and even since they left Bad Wolf Bay. He wiped away her tears with the back of his hand.

Rose lay on her back then, with her arms at her side and her eyes closed. She wanted to sleep, knowing that she would get used to this Doctor when she woke up. It was all she ever wanted and wished for, anyway. A life with the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose, not travelling the world this time but simply being a part of it.

She felt the Doctor's hand lying next to hers and intertwined her fingers with his. She didn't want any version of him leaving her again. It felt right; it felt wrong. The hand of a stranger, yet so very familiar.

It was nine in the morning when she woke up, sitting on the bed and just staring at him sleeping.

It's been a day since everything went right. Or wrong. Sometimes Rose wasn't exactly sure.

She was going to find out, though. Now. She needed answers, a proper conversation with this Doctor to be fully content with him, and most importantly, fade the memory of the other Doctor who she would certainly never come in contact with again. She needed closure and a new beginning.

She heard him groan and stretch, about to wake up now. The eyes of the Doctor slowly opened and met with hers.

_Those old, tired eyes_, Rose thought. _I've always known them. _The Doctor gave off a smile and then sat upright. He wore the same suit from the day before―well, his only suit. It was wrinkled and blue and fit him perfectly. Rose was reminded of the brown coat that the other Doctor almost always wore, and instead of trying to forget the memory, she tucked it in the back of her mind.

"So, what's today's agenda, Rose Tyler?"

His excited grin made Rose smile contently.

"Fighting aliens? I dreamt about it last night, you know—first time I've actually had a good night's sleep. But then I remembered that I don't have a sonic screwdriver, or a time machine. Ah, the TARDIS! I miss her already, don't you? I also dreamt about everything else, really."

Rose sighed. The Doctor. He was always talking. His once giddy grin faded.

"The other universe. The stars, and how I'm so very far away from them. Oh, the stars. Weren't they absolutely beautiful? And the planets. All… out of reach."

Rose didn't know how to respond. When the Doctor was low-spirited, it took him a while to get back into his regular state of mind. He would take a few moments to brush it off and think about the current problem at hand. But this Doctor—right now, he wasn't in the midst of saving a planet, or a species, or showing someone the world. He was half a Timelord and half a human, and without a time machine he couldn't do what he always did: time travel. The Doctor knew of nothing else except travelling. And running away.

"This life is going to take a lot of time to get used to, huh, Rose?"

Rose looked at this Doctor's wide brown eyes, and they were full of sadness. He ran his fingers against the bed sheet as he thought more about the situation and its wrongness. He knew he didn't belong, and as he looked time and time again into the eyes of Rose—his dear Rose—he could see a hint of doubt in them. And emptiness. As if she didn't fully see him as the man that she admired and loved and cared for, the man who saw and did everything and took her with him.

As Rose looked more and more at the Doctor, she realized that he was smart enough to know what she was thinking. The Doctor sighed at this realization and the silence he received from Rose just worsened his thoughts.

"Listen, Rose Tyler. We both know how excellent you are at telling me when you feel as if something is wrong. I've known you long enough to be certain that you just aren't—" the Doctor sighed again, trying to mask the cracking in his voice, "well, you don't love this version of me."

All Rose could do was press her lips together and stay silent because she knew his words were true. Still, this Doctor looked exactly the same as the one she had traveled with for years, and this Doctor sounded the same, and he sighed and looked at her the same way; and she literally felt as if her heart was in pain, and she knew the pain would have felt the same if it had been caused by the other universe's Doctor.

"And it's all right," he said. "You don't have to love this version of me, and I won't force you to." He forced a smile, one that Rose remembered the Doctor sported whenever he tried to make light of a situation. She felt tears forming near her eyes. The Doctor being sad always made her sad.

"Like I said," he started, clearing his throat, "this life is going to take a lot of time to get used to. I don't have the galaxies in the palm of my hand," he opened his hand and stared thoughtfully at his palm, "or the stars or the Suns or the moons…"

"…but I do have you, Rose Tyler. Whether you choose to be a tiny fragment in the life I'm living or a universe-sized chunk, at least you are in it."

The Doctor gave off a warm smile, one that Rose could never resist returning. She sat on the edge of the bed next to him, hesitantly placing her palm above his open hand, letting her fingers slide in between the spaces as he did the same.

"I… I love you," Rose whispered, staring at their hands. "You, him… whatever. You're both the same person, sharing the same thoughts and experiences. The same love. And I hold the same love for any version of you." The Doctor brushed his thumb against the back of Rose's hand and let her rest her head against his shoulder.

"I've already lost you once, Doctor. I'm not letting it happen ever again, all right?"

She turned her head to face his as she said this, and the Doctor stared comfortably at her lips as she did his. Slowly he inched closer, and his warm lips met Rose's as she trembled a bit at first. As her lips moved against his, she closed her eyes and tucked this moment into the back of her mind to remember later. The softness of his lips and the gentleness of his mouth. The feeling of completeness, the racing of her heart contrasting the calmness and homely feeling that took over her.

They ended the kiss, and Rose resumed laying her head against his shoulder and having him rub his thumb against the back of her hand. The Doctor sighed again this time, but there wasn't a hint of shakiness, but rather one of contentment.

"The continuation of Rose and the Doctor," he said, slowly moving his hand from entwining fingers to holding her by the waist, "living our lives, fighting battles, growing old together… Well, _older_, I mean."

"_You're_ growing older," Rose teased. "Nine-hundred-and-something…"

"Technically, I'm merely days old," the Doctor said, smiling. "You're in love with an infant."

"Oh, shut up," she said, laughing.

They spent the morning like this, laughing and teasing and loving and confessing. Enjoying. They both knew that even the parallel world had people and aliens out to get them, and it would happen sooner or later. Someday in the near future, they would have to break away from their comfortable, little bubble and stop them. But right then—right at that moment—the sun was bright and the skies were clear and there were no signs of danger, and just for that one day they wanted to feel… _free_.

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**A/N: If you're reading this right now, please review. I'm back in the world of fanfiction after a few years off (haha), so obviously my writing has changed. In other words, IDK if it's good or not. I'd like to know what you think... even if it's just a couple of words. Thank you for reading! :)**


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